Thoughts on Alaska Oil & Gas

This morning during my last day this run as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show we invited former Senate President Rick Halford and Dr. Jack Hickel, the son of former Governor Walter J. Hickel, to join us to discuss various recent proposals to “restructure” (i.e., cut) the Permanent Fund Dividend.

Within the past six months both Hickel and Halford have written op-ed pieces that ran in the Alaska Dispatch News opposing proposals to cut the PFD.  Sen. Halford’s was written first, as SB 128, the Senate’s bill last session to restructure the PFD was heading toward the House.  House should vote no to protect Permanent Fund and dividend (June 15, 2016).

Dr. Hickel’s was written later, after the House Finance Committee had rejected the Senate’s proposal but Governor Walker had gone ahead and cut the 2016 PFD by veto.  Fiscal plan must strengthen both Permanent Fund and dividend (Aug. 23, 2016).

To be honest, when I first read Dr. Hickel’s piece I was surprised, because I had always understood his father to favor using the earnings from the Permanent Fund to bolster state investment in various infrastructure projects over distribution to individual Alaskans.  During the conversation I had the opportunity to ask about that and other things.  The answers — and the discussion as a whole — were greatly enlightening.

If for no other reason than because of who they are and how deeply connected to Alaska they have been throughout their lives, in my opinion the conversation is a must listen for anyone seriously interested in the PFD debate.  The podcast follows:

Regularly during my stints guest hosting KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show I use the 6:20am segment to cover my “Top 3” news stories of the day — sort of my equivalent of Michael’s “Bullet Point” segments.

While preparing for Friday’s “Top 3” I ran across that day’s editorial from the Fairbanks News Miner.  In previous editorials the News Miner had been counting down their Top 10 Interior Issues of the year.  Friday’s edition listed the final top 3; understandably, the number 1 issue of the year was “the state budget.”

As they explained why, they said this:

… without such a [fiscal] solution, the Legislature will soon deplete the Alaska Permanent Fund’s earnings reserve, the account out of which annual dividend checks are paid.

That statement effectively repeats something the Governor and others also have claimed Continue reading →

Some of the time last week during my stint as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show we spent an hour with a single guest, taking a deeper dive on an issue than the normal segments permit.  We previously have posted the discussion we had last Tuesday along those lines with Casey Reynolds and the one Wednesday that ultimately stretched into an hour with Senator Mike Dunleavy.

The podcast below is the hour long discussion that I had Thursday with long time Alaska journalist, and now blogger Craig Medred (craigmedred.news).  The podcast begins with a segment on Craig’s background, how he came to Alaska and the roles he has played since here.  Then in the second segment (the segment starts at 15:10) we start with a discussion about the blog itself, why he does it and the business proposition (or lack of one) behind it.

Finally, at about 22:15 we start in on Alaska fiscal issues by discussing why he disagrees with the exchange that Casey Reynolds and I had in the earlier, Tuesday segment.   For those interested in taking a deeper dive, the blog piece where Craig expresses that and which we use as the starting point for our discussion is here:  Taxing questions.

And then in the final segment (the segment starts at 33:00) I begin with the question, “You are king of the world … where do we go forward from here [on fiscal policy] in your view.” Its a question that Craig obviously had thought about and led to an excellent discussion for the remainder of the segment.

The podcast is here:  

Yesterday (Friday) Reps. Tammie Wilson and Lynn Gattis joined me during my stint as guest host on KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show to reflect on the lessons learned from 2016 and talk about the issues going forward into 2017.

Both were members of the House Majority and sat on the House Finance Committee this past session.  Rep. Wilson will be a member of the House Minority and continue to sit on the House Finance Committee this coming session.  Rep. Gattis is not returning but intends to remain active on the issues.

The conversation provides a somewhat behind the scenes view of the how individual legislators responded to the state’s fiscal issues last legislature, how the legislative process dealt with those efforts and what effect that had on the subsequent election. Importantly, the conversation also addresses the assertion, by some, that “the legislature didn’t do anything” to address the state’s fiscal situation last session.

Going forward, the two discuss how the issues likely are to be dealt with this coming legislature and how, from their perspective, Alaskans can best participate in the process.

The podcast is here:

Wednesday, during my run as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show, Alaska State Senator Mike Dunleavy joined us to preview the fiscal plan he proposes to introduce this coming session in his capacity as incoming Chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee and a continuing member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Despite a bit of self-induced technical difficulty on my end (we crashed into the top-of-the-hour hard break, a talk radio no-no), the Senator stayed with us to finish providing a full preview of the plan and give us the opportunity to ask a few questions.  With a bit of editing — to limit inflicting on listeners a full repeat of the technical difficulties — here is the podcast of the discussion in two parts.  The first is the opening in the 7am hour; the second is the continuation and wrap up in the 8am hour.

Part 1 (7am block segment)

Part 2 (8am block segment)

Thursday of this week Alaska Republican Party (ARP) Vice Chair Rick Whitbeck joined me for an “Alaska GOP Update” while I sat in as guest host of KBYRAM 700‘s The Michael Dukes Show.

Political commentator Casey Reynolds already has hi-lited one part of my discussion with Rick in this week’s edition of Reynolds’ regular “Friday in the Sun” column in his The Midnight Sun blog.

Who Isn’t On The List? — Alaska Republican Party Vice-Chairman Rick Whitbeck said yesterday on the Michael Dukes Show that he has a list of 46 Republicans who “are either interested in running or people are trying to draft them into running” for Governor in 2018.

That is a pretty good indication of just how vulnerable Republicans think Gov. Bill Walker is at this point.

Whitbeck went on to say the Alaska Republican Party’s challenge is to keep the number of entrants in the Republican primary from ballooning to the point the Party’s message gets lost. That is pretty clearly code for saying the Party doesn’t want more than 3-4 people in the primary because that would give more moderate or labor-supported candidates like Sen. Click Bishop or a candidate with a track record of opposing resource development like richy-rich Bob Gillam a realistic chance of winning.

Of far greater interest to us, however, were Whitbeck’s comments on the PFD.  After Rick argued that cutting the PFD is an economic mistake, I asked him to reconcile that view at the Party level with the boots on the ground action by the Republican-led Senate last session in passing SB 128, a bill which would have permanently cut the PFD immediately in half, and more as time went on.

To his credit, rather than dodging the issue Rick addressed it head on, wrapping up by saying “I hope there is a different approach this [coming] year.”

The following is the full podcast of our discussion with Rick; for those interested in the discussion on the PFD, you can fast forward to the part of the discussion beginning around 8:55.

Each Tuesday morning at 7:20 am Alaska, I join KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show to discuss the latest in Alaska oil and fiscal issues. This week Michael and I take a deep dive into the Governor’s proposed FY 2018 budget. My summary? Governor Walker is ignoring the fact that he is the Governor for all Alaskans, not just those tied to the Government economy. Here’s why and, at the end, how I would do it differently. I join Michael at 15:00 into the segment.

Listen here or at the widget below for this week’s show.  For past episodes, go here.

Each Tuesday morning at 7:20 am Alaska, I join KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show to discuss the latest in Alaska oil and fiscal issues. This week Michael and I discuss what to look for in Governor’s proposed FY 2018 budget due to be released by Thursday, and take a first look at how the Trump Cabinet picks are likely impact Alaska.  I join Michael at 23:10 into the segment. (Note: At the time of the broadcast Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington was rumored to be the likely pick for Secretary of the Interior. Later in the day, however, the transition announced Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana as the pick. While there are some differences in the positions the two have taken over the years, none of them relate to the development of Alaska’s resources. Thus, the expectations I outlined under Rep. Rodgers remain the same under Rep. Zinke.)

Listen here or at the widget below and for past episodes, go here.